Peat bogs in the boreal-subarctic and temperate areas of the world account for up to 40% of the world’s soil carbon. They are landscape sponges, with highly specialised plant life including shrubs, sedges and mosses equipped to grow in acidic, nutrient-poor, low-oxygen, waterlogged soils. Sphagnum moss and other peat-forming plants are foundational to these ecosystems. Insects are the dominant animal group, along with amphibians, reptiles, rodents and a few visiting birds.